FRANKFORT — Frankfort’s season may have ended Monday evening, but the Panthers’ bright future showed off a bit in the afternoon.
Freshman catcher Brylee Wilson belted a three-run home run to give Frankfort an 11-9 win over Lake Leelanau St. Mary.
But not just any home run.
Wilson hit the blast with two out and on a full count with the Panthers and Eagles tied 8-8 before her shot to left field.
“That was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” Wilson said. “I’ve never felt that energized in my life. I just felt the adrenaline running through my veins and it was awesome.”
Frankfort (21-11) went on to drop the regional championship game 13-0 against No. 5-ranked Holton in Monday’s Division 4 softball regional at Brookes Field in Frankfort.
For Wilson, the homer was her third of the season.
“I just forgot about the count and swung the bat like I know how to do,” Wilson said. “As soon as I felt it, I knew it was gone.”
Holton earned a spot in the finals with a 7-2 win over Bellaire (26-6) in which those Eagles went deep twice for their runs. The Red Devils (27-12-1) get a quick turnaround, playing in Tuesday’s quarterfinals against No. 8 Beal City at 1 p.m. at Central Michigan University.
Frankfort looked like it would run away with the Lake Leelanau (17-11-1) game, opening up a 5-0 lead in the first two innings and eventually going up 8-1 on Evelyn VanTol’s bases-loaded single in the fourth.
The Eagles would chip away, getting one back in the bottom of the fourth on Della Bunek’s RBI single, then two two-run homers in the fifth by Cathryn Mikowski and Leah Fleis to pull within two.
Mikowski’s two-run double to center knotted up the game at 8-8 in the sixth, setting up Wilson’s heroics.
“Just clutch,” Frankfort head coach Mike Thompson said. “I knew that we were going to have a hard time holding them down in the seventh just because we’re four times through the order and they had gotten Sage (Myers) figured out a little bit. We had to have some runs right there, and Brylee came through for us.”
Frankfort built its 5-0 lead with first-inning RBIs by Kylee Manning, VanTol and Samantha Tester, then a second-inning RBI double from Lydia Bramer, who later scored on an error. Mikowski plated Lake Leelanau’s first run with a third-inning single that brought in Bramer.
With two on and two out in the ninth, Bramer hit a line drive to left field that was snagged by Frankfort’s Mary Katherine McRae to end the game.
“We got relaxed and then all of a sudden they came back,” Wilson said. “Then we came back.”
Mikowski came on in relief after Frankfort led 8-1. She struck out nine the rest of the way.
“Give St. Mary’s pitcher some credit,” Thompson said. “She had us all tied up, and our offense kind of just sort of disappeared.”
Thompson said Wilson’s growth throughout her freshman season has him excited for the team’s future.
“She’s going to be a really, really good ball player,” Thompson said. “She’s come a million miles already. Her first couple of games at Manton were really rough. But where she is now to where she was back when we played Manton is just a long ways away.”
The Red Devils didn’t hit any homers against Bellaire but went deep seven times over Brookes Field’s small outfield against Frankfort.
Kenzie Greene went deep twice for Holton, with Abbie Fowler, Sydney McCormick, Aubrey Goyings, Grace Thompsen and Ryann Robins each belting one. Robins’ shot in the fourth inning was the 48th of her career and the final one of solo shots in three consecutive at-bats that inning. The Red Devils have hit 40 round-trippers as a team this season.
Robins also threw a no-hitter, allowing four base runners in five innings — three by walk and one on an error. She struck out 11. Myers, Darby O’Grady and McRae each drew a walk.
Thompson said he’s known Holton head coach Kirk Younts for a long time after they’ve faced off on the diamond and both also serve on the board of directors for the Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association.
“It’s really good character out of his kids,” Thompson said. “You never see anybody complain, never see any of the Holton parents complaining. You don’t see any of that stuff. That’s an example of wonderful, wonderful culture. You can see that those athletes he has are able to embrace that culture and just excel.”
Bellaire won its first district title since 2013, just two seasons after not fielding a team due to a lack of players. Bellaire also finished second in the Ski Valley Conference to No. 2-ranked Johannesburg-Lewiston.
Sophomore Addy Patton belted a fourth-inning home run, and Rianna Slabosz crushed a seventh-inning shot to left that hit the power line going to the football stadium. Slabosz had two hits, and Madi DePew added another. Freshman Brooklyn Fischer struck out 10 in six innings. Greene fanned 14 in seven frames for the Red Devils.
The Eagles graduate only one player, left fielder Alex Dawson, and have only one junior in shortstop Alayna Elandt, starting three freshmen and four sophomores.